The present invention generally relates to textiles, and more particularly to textiles including carbon nanotubes.
Carbon nanotubes are tube-shaped materials including carbon and having a cylindrical structure. A diameter of a carbon nanotube may be measured, for example, on a nanometer scale. Carbon nanotubes may be used in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other related fields. Carbon nanotubes may include metallic and semiconducting nanotubes. Semiconducting nanotubes may be distinguished from metallic nanotubes based on chirality.
Carbon nanotubes may be electrically conductive, thermally conductive and may be relatively durable materials. For example, carbon nanotubes may be structurally stable, even with relatively high length-to-diameter ratios. Semiconducting nanotubes may be relatively responsive to their environment (e.g., by a change in the number of free charges in the semiconducting nanotubes), and metallic nanotubes may have relatively high charge densities and may thus carry relatively high currents across relatively long distances.
Carbon nanotubes may be incorporated into wearable fabrics, which may be referred to as ‘smart’ fabrics.
As an example, a fabric may be exposed to a solution including carbon nanotubes. A portion of the carbon nanotubes in the solution of carbon nanotubes may be incorporated into the fabric. Thus, at least a portion of the fabric including the carbon nanotubes may become electrically conductive, and responsive to a signal applied to the fabric.